Writing a research proposal Communication Research Week 4

Writing a research proposal Communication Research Week 4

What is a research proposal? n n A research proposal aims to introduce your reader or supervisor to the proposed purpose and direction of a research project you are planning with the purpose of persuading them that the research will be worthwhile. The process is important as it can help you determine your focus, clarify what is involved in your project and plan its development. Communication Research 2

The Context n n The Research Proposal is the document you will present to plead your case for funds for your research project. You will probably use the development of your research proposal to refine details of your proposed project. Communication Research 3

The Proposal document n n n The information needs to be argued well, presented in a formal yet familiar style and structure, and with no fat. Write a tightly organised and convincing proposal. Expect it to be 1500 – 2500 words. Communication Research 4

How is it set out? TO: FROM: n n n Often as a report or memo DATE: report eg SUBJECT: Uses headings and subheadings and a numbering system to guide the reader Uses page numbers, includes a bibliography and an appendix for supplementary material Communication Research 5

Introduction 1 – Topic & problem n n The research topic formulates a problem that is worthy of research The topic should be: stated clearly in one or two sentences framed as a research question or hypothesis framed as a problem or question in need of an answer n The topic provides the pivot or focus Communication Research 6

The Research Question n n Research is about finding answers to questions in order to discover new knowledge The most difficult part of the project is deciding what research question to ask Communication Research 7

The next logical question “The formulation of a problem might be more difficult than its solution. ” … Albert Einstein Communication Research 8

Developing the research question n Write down lots of possible arrangements of the question Many of them won’t lead you anywhere, but eventually you will come up with something that fits your requirements In particular, it will follow from the research you’ve been reading Communication Research 9

Introduction 2 – Context n n n Your research topic needs to be located in its context and background In sketching this background, you need to show and why this topic is important and why it is worth researching This can be done by: Contextualizing the research problem – how does it arise? Outlining its significance – what will be the outcomes and for whom? Referring to key issues that are associated with the topic 10 Communication Research

Introduction 3 – Background n Background can be provided in several ways. These might include: A brief overview or history of the problem or issue using examples or statistics in support A theoretical overview of the issue A brief description of the context in which the problem has occurred An overview or analysis of your position or assumptions on the issue Communication Research 11

Introduction 4 – Literature review n n n All research should be contextualized in terms of relevant scholarly or academic literature related to or around the problem or topic The literature may not refer to the problem exactly but may explore similar or related issues or other research that sheds light on the problem The purpose is to demonstrate that you are familiar with other bodies of research around your topic Communication Research 12

Literature Review n n Many researchers argue their perspectives through the literature review The best researchers attempt to make their hypotheses evolve out of the literature search Communication Research 13

The Literature Search n n n The literature review explores relevant research, and hypotheses evolve from past research The literature is usually found in a search that is carefully directed by a desire to research a particular question What happens next is determined from studying the literature Communication Research 14

Using scholarly databases Communication Research 15

Searching 1. 2. Use your topic as your search term to search scholarly databases and library catalogues for papers that will support your research Formulate some more specific search terms. The more closely the search term matches the area that you want to research, the more likely it is that the hits will be useful Communication Research 16

Keep searching n n Don’t get sidetracked into reading the papers at this stage – just keep searching until you’ve found some papers You will want a lot of papers – maybe 30 or so – because you will probably throw half of them away in the next stage, when you filter out those that will not be useful to your research project Communication Research 17

Filtering the research documents 1. 2. 3. Display the article in your browser. Select the whole document, then Copy it to the Windows clipboard Open Microsoft Word and paste the document into Word Use Word’s ‘Find’ feature (in the Edit menu) to look for your search term Communication Research 18

In each paper … n n n What specific question is being asked? How does it address the question? How convincing are the results? What aspects of the research question remain unanswered? What is the next logical question? Communication Research 19

Filtering the research documents n n n The context in which your search term is used and the number of times it’s used give you a good indication of whether that document will be useful in your research. If you decide to use it, save the document and move on. If you have less than 12 papers you need to keep looking. Communication Research 20

Fictional example – Literature Review Smith and Brown (2001) reported SMS usage against telephone and faceto-face communication and separated their data by gender preferences. In contrast, Zhou et al (2003) showed that while many people readily accept the use of SMS as a dating communication tool, many people of the 25 -40 age group, and women in particular, oppose it. Harries (2002) suggested that the opposition is related to the unromantic nature of SMS and Norris (2002) showed a belief that SMS is considered insufficient for the business of finding a mate for long term cohabitation and reproduction. Jones et al (2003) also reported SMS dating across age groups. Cruikshank and Johnson (2001) said that arranging dates by SMS was readily accepted by 83% of their female respondents and 87% of male respondents. Findings were corroborated by Stuart (2004) and Nicholson (2005) but with less detail. Henriks et al (2003) found that respondents in the 16 -24 age group and those over 40 readily accepted SMS as a dating tool, while respondents in the 25 -40 age group opposed it. Other studies (Findus et al (2003), Horace and Fawn (2002) and Halley et al (2003)) corroborate their findings, but few respondents made any mention of ending relationships by SMS, leading to our research question: Is it acceptable to end a relationship by SMS message? The research will attempt to differentiate responses by gender and age. Communication Research 21

Method n A detailed description of the research methods you intend to develop or employ and a justification of why you have chosen them. You should describe … n n Exactly how you intend to conduct the research – eg a survey that will be distributed to 100 randomly selected people between the period of x to y 2005 Research instrument – eg 20 question survey comprising a selection of open and closed questions Communication Research 22

Method n n The timeframe of the research How you plan to analyse the data to address the research question Any problems or issues that you anticipate in collecting and analyzing the data What ethical issues might be encountered and how do you plan to address these? Communication Research 23

Other parts include … n n Research plan and timeline (use a table with real dates) Conclusions Bibliography – listed alphabetically using APA style (see style guide on CR homepage) Appendix – additional or supplementary material such as a draft survey or draft observation schedule Communication Research 24

References/Bibliography n n Make sure all the references in your literature review are included and set out correctly. Use the APA referencing system If in doubt, check here: http: //www. psychwww. com/resource/apacrib. htm Communication Research 25

Appendix 1 Your appendix should contain a copy of the Protocol Application Form that you would normally submit to the UWS Human Research Ethics Committee. http: //www. uws. edu. au/about/adminorg/devint/ors/ethic s/humanethics Communication Research 26

Appendix 2 n n Another appendix should contain a copy of your draft survey (if you plan to use this method), observation schedule etc This demonstrates that you have thought the research question through, and you have created a set of questions that address the research question properly. Communication Research 27

And now … write the proposal n n Use Times for your body text. Set the size to 12 point and 1½ space Use Arial bold for your headings, and set the size to 14 point Don’t underline anything except the obligatory underlining of URLs. Use paragraph space (6 pt) between your paragraphs (some journals may prefer indents so in these cases follow the style guide. As a general ‘rule of thumb’, I prefer paragraph space) Communication Research 28

Spelling and Grammar n n n Don’t use the grammar checker. Don’t rely on the spelling checker. Use a dictionary. A real, hard-copy one, with pages made of paper. Many online dictionaries are good, but n n Usually don’t give the meaning of the word, so you can have the wrong spelling. Might be ‘Standard English’ (whatever that is). Communication Research 29